Sign
by ThatGirlWhoLicksWindows
Summary: Whenever he was asked how he and Madison had met, Nico would tell them there was just a sign. Contains a cute 10 year old Nico during his first days at Camp Half-Blood during Titan's Curse. Rated K. All you recognise belongs to Rick Riordian, I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

_Sign_

_Years later, when asked how he and Madison had met, Nico would tell them there was just a sign._

"And this is the Apollo Cabin, number 7," said Connor enthusiastically, waving his arms at the bright and almost blinding cabin to his right. Nico looked up from

the rock he'd been kicking along the ground, smiled slightly at the brothers before looking back at his feet.

Connor looked at Travis and he shrugged, clearing his throat. "The older Apollo kids can be quite snobby, but the younger ones are okay," Nico nodded, not

really listening, like he had been through the whole 'Stoll Brother's Tour of Camp'. Travis sighed, the kid could at least be grateful they were trying to keep his

mind off his sister's dangerous quest and her sudden ambitions to join the Goddess of Girl Power and her man-eating minions. He cleared his throat again.

"Yeah, so the younger ones, they're ok, like, uh, Will and Ty and, uh, Austin but Melody is also cool and she's about 17," Nico nodded again.

"Melody is hot!" Connor said with a wide grin. "That red hair is just…," he trailed off with a wistful expression and Travis shoved him to inform him he wasn't

helping but then Nico laughed and looked up at both of them with a smile.

"I'm 10 and aren't you 14?" he asked, causing Travis to laugh and Connor to look affronted.

"Why should my age be of any concern when I am wooing a lady," he demanded dramatically.

"It's probably not as big of a concern as your face,"

Connor made to hit Travis, who ducked but didn't manage to avoid a kick in the shins. Nico laughed again and Travis grinned back despite the pain. Seemed

this kid could be cool after all.

"Yeah, dude, I'll tell you who else is kinda hot, Jenny," Connor leant into Nico's face conspiratorially and whispered. "She's got this hot Texan thing going on

and it's like…,"

"Who's got a hot Texan thing going on, Connor?" a voice came from behind the brothers and they both turned to see Jenny who had one hand on her hip and

one raised eyebrow. Travis was nearly bent over from silent laughter as were the two girls behind her.

Connor's cheeks reddened but he didn't miss a beat. "Dolly Parton, I'm a secret lover of her work,"

Jenny hummed and her eyes landed on Nico. "Don't listen to anything they tell you, I'm Jenny, you're the new boy, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Nico,"

She was radiant. Her hair was golden and pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes were bright blue. He couldn't say he was surprised she was Apollo's kid. It

was also hard to miss she was Texan either with her weathered leather cowboy boots and her 'Lone Star State' bracelet.

"It's a pleasure," she drawled and nudged the blonde-haired girl beside her who smiled nervously at Nico. Jenny rounded on Connor once more.

"I didn't know you like Dolly, Connor! What's your favourite song?" she asked wearing a large smirk.

"I'm Kayla," the other blonde said, though her hair was only slightly darker, she looked a lot different from Jenny. Probably because most of her hair was

covering her face, almost obscuring her eyes completely. She was shy and vastly uncomfortable it seemed as she stood next to her half-sister ripping to pieces

Connor's lie, by informing him that not only was 'Redneck Woman' not a Dolly Parton song but that she was actually born in Tennessee.

"Oh and this is Madison," she pulled the elbow of the girl beside her and the contrast was so different, Nico was taken aback. Her hair was a reddish-brown

and was slightly curly unlike the dead-straight hair of the other two girls. She was about half a foot taller than Nico and thin, almost gangly. She smiled at him,

showing her braces and made a weird gesture with her hands.

"She said 'it's nice to meet you'," Kayla spoke for her and Nico realised the weird gesture was in fact sign language. As strange as it seems, Nico had not really

considered that there might be deaf half-bloods. Weren't the children of Gods and Goddesses meant to be all ready for action at any time and jump in with all

their fight power to any attack? How could she hear the monsters coming?

"Oh, can you tell her my name?" he turned to Kayla to ask but saw Madison grin and roll her eyes. Kayla snorted.

"Oh, she isn't deaf, she's just mute," Kayla explained. "You know, she can't speak,"

Nico felt like an idiot and his face reddened. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't of assumed. Bianca, my sister, always says…"

He trailed off because Madison was signing frantically at Kayla. The dull ache in his stomach that came with thinking about Bianca returned.

"She asks, um, slow down Mads," Kayla narrowed her eyes in confusion and Madison slowed the pace of her hands. "She asks 'is your sister the one who went

on the quest?'"

"Um yeah, she is," Nico looked down at his shoes; he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Oh, she also says 'its ok about the deaf thing, everyone assumes so she won't hold it against you," Kayla nodded in agreement which looked odd to Nico as it

looked like she was agreeing with herself. "It's true, you know, even I assumed when we first met and, um, we're best friends,"

Madison grinned at her and Nico realised that Kayla was much more confident speaking Madison's words that speaking her own. She signed something else at

Kayla who smiled.

"She says 'she thinks that your sister is brave for going on that quest as she was the newest hunter, that's why she asked, and she thinks that anyone that

brave will be ok so you shouldn't worry'," Kayla spoke with careful precision and glanced back at Madison to see if she had got it all right. She nodded her head

vigorously leaving no doubt those were her words.

Nico grimaced, the ache flared once more but mostly he was shocked that she had read his expression so thoroughly.

"Oh, go drown yourself in the lake, Stoll!" huffed Jenny loudly bringing the three of them out of their conversation and into the one beside them.

Connor had an expression of pure exasperation on his face while Travis seemed to have sauntered off somewhere leaving his brother to the mercy of the

angry teenage girl who Nico had now noticed was fingering her bow dangerously.

"What did I say?"

"What didn't you say?" she gritted her teeth. "Come on, Kay, Mads, we need to tune our lyres for the sing-a-long tonight. Good-bye Stoll,"

She turned abruptly and head up the steps to bright cabin, Kayla following behind shooting Connor a look from beneath her fringe. Madison gave Nico an

apologetic smile and shrugged before running after them.

Connor mimicked her shrug and then glanced at Nico. "Girls! They are the exact opposite of Sirens, I swear; pretty to look at but horrible to listen to!"

"They have 500+ attack points and -30 healing points on Mythomagic," Nico said on reflex. They walked past the Hephaestus cabin quickly, Connor not even

bothering to point it out. Nico kept thinking about Madison. He was honestly surprised when she ran into the Apollo Cabin, he had assumed she had a different

parent because she looked so different. Like a contrast.

Connor's eyes narrowed. "Girls?"

"Huh, no, Sirens,"

"Oh," he rolled his eyes before darting his suddenly bright eyes at Nico. "You don't think Mythomagic could become a betting game of some sort?"

Nico shook his head.

"Damn," he looked around, presumably for his brother. "That's why poker will always be the superior game,"

He smiled impishly as they reached the door of the Hermes cabin once more. "Hey, d'you want to play?"

* * *

So, yeah. This is my first PJ story and it's going to be a four chapter thing I think. I might write other stories on it later or other stories on other campers such as Travis/Katie or Will Solace or maybe explore this Connor/Jenny tension that inadvertently appeared whilst I was writing...

Anyway, thanks for reading - review if you can and I'll write more, promise!

ThatGirlWhoLicksWindows


	2. Chapter 2

_Sign_

Madison walked into the cabin happily. She'd had good day so far, archery hadn't gone as badly as she'd expected, she thought maybe Apollo wasn't paying that much attention due to his sister being missing, and she'd had fun in Crafts with Jen and Kayla. However, she'd also met the new boy, Nico and despite not being able to talk she'd managed to put her foot in it. She shouldn't have mentioned his sister, he looked so unhappy when she did.

The cabin was as bright inside as it was out, the light seemed to filter through windows and then expand outwards into the room. Will was lying on the floor when he saw her, attempting to read a book on Ancient Greek medicine, next to the drums which Jonathan was playing. Adding to the noise was also the current rant being made by Jen to her twin, Austin, about Connor Stoll.

"He told me, I couldn't even tempt him if I had the looks of Aphrodite because my personality stunk so much," she gestured with her arms wildly and Austin looked amused.

"Did he really say that, Jen?"

"It was implied!" she cried and hit her brother when he just laughed and adjusted his bass. "I knew you wouldn't defend me, you are a horrible brother,"

She huffed and threw herself down on one of the plush bean bags which surrounded the instruments in the cabin. "Lee would defend me, if he was here,"

"Yeah, well Lee isn't here, because he actually has somewhere to go at Christmas," Jonathan grunted from the drums as he circled the sticks in his hand absentmindedly. "So would you mind shutting up while I play?"

Jen stuck her tongue at him and he flipped her off before starting to play again. Melody glared at him from the table where she was doing a large pile of homework.

"We all have somewhere to go, and that somewhere is here," Melody said angrily. There was certain finality in her tone which everyone seemed to hear apart from Jonathan.

"Yeah, well it's hardly the same is it," he shrugged. "I mean Apollo came to Camp the other day and he couldn't even by bothered to stop by,"

Jonathan never called Apollo his dad; to him he was only the man who had abandoned his mother causing her to jump off a bridge when he was 9.

The cabin fell silent, even those who hadn't really been paying attention had heard that. They'd all heard that Apollo couldn't wait to get off and leave Camp after he'd dropped off the hunters, not even a glance back. And that had hurt, especially to the all-rounders who didn't have any other family to speak of.

Madison gave a low whistle to get all their attention and started to sign. '_He was probably busy, look at all the stuff your dad is the God of'._

She gestured around the room to prove her point. At Melody, with her medical journals, at Johnny's drums and the bass guitar strapped to Austin's torso and to the quivers hung up on hooks along the wall. _'Plus there's all this stuff going on at the moment'_

She tried to smile reassuringly and most of them smiled back.

"I can't believe you would defend him, he's probably done you the most wrong, Maddie," Jonathan sighed and shook his head. Madison loved Jonathan when he wasn't moody like this; he was funny and liked talking about music with her. It was also a known fact only him and Will were allowed to call her Maddie.

'_He's also given me a lot too, I mean he let me stay here and I met you all'_ she signed with a large smile on her face.

Johnny laughed. "Well aren't you sweet,"

The cabin returned to normal after a moment of silent contemplation and while Kayla agreed to play darts with Jen and Austin, Madison went to sit with Will.

"How are you?" he asked, his big blue eyes exploring her face for any kind of worry. She shot him a large smile.

'_I'm fine' _she signed.

"Are you sure? When's your dad coming to pick you up?" he asked staring at his hands. Other parents apart from the godly kind became a sore subject around Christmas. Will's mom had abandoned him as a toddler at a church. He'd jumped from foster parent to foster parent before getting to Camp Half-Blood.

'_I think on the 29__th__, his last show is in L.A on the 27__th__ but he won't be able to get to New York until after that'_

She shrugged. If she was being honest with herself she could have spent Christmas back in Malibu but her dad would have been in and out so much. She just wanted a calm family Christmas without all the stress of sitting back stage with her father's groupies and smelly roadies or at home with Maria, their housekeeper, who she could tell wanted to be with her own family. She had basically ordered her father to send her to Camp for Christmas and to pay for Maria's flight back to Cancun. Plus she'd never had Christmas at the Camp before.

"Ok, good. Tell him, I liked 'Raging fire', I thought it was the best song on his new album," Will smiled, "Nearly three years we've known each other and I still can't really believe your dad is the George Taylor,"

Madison silently laughed into her palm. _'Because I am not rock and roll enough'_

Will shook his head while he laughed. "No, because you're so normal and he seems so…godly,"

Madison laughed for a long time before managing to stop her hands shaking enough to sign_. 'I could say exactly the same about you and your father'_

Will smirked. "Different kind of god, your dad is a Rock God"

Madison contemplated this for a moment. _'So you could say that I am, in fact, a god, because my mom is an actual goddess and my dad is a Rock God,"_

She quoted Will directly and had a silly, sarcastic expression on her face which told him she was making fun of him. Will pushed her gently and she snickered into the back of her hand. He didn't like how easily a 10 year old had made fun of him.

'_Your dad is also the god of music, so is actually the original rock god-'_

He grabbed her hands and gave her a look. "I get it; it was a stupid thing to say, no need to rub it in,"

She hit his head. "So how was archery?" he said with a large grin. There was nothing Will Solace liked more than making fun of her archery skills.

She scoffed. _'Better than usual, your dad must not be paying much attention, but the hunters were there'_

She made a face and Will made one in return. "They didn't try to recruit you, did they?"

She nodded. _'They always do'_

"I think Artemis likes to get at dad in that way, to get all of the girls in our cabin to join her. I think that is why they especially want you,"

Madison smiled. _'It would definitely annoy him'_

"You talking about the hunters?" a voice came from above them and they both looked up.

"Hey Kat," said Will as she sat down with them, "Where have you been?"

"Canoe Lake," she shrugged. "When are we going to dinner?"

"About ten minutes," he responded glancing at the sundial in the middle of the cabin. Kat jumped up.

"I'm going to get changed,"

She jumped up and went through the curtain to the girls section of the cabin. The curtain was erected after Madison arrived at Camp as she was technically not a sibling. The boys argued that she was also 8 (at the time) and Chiron had argued more successfully that she would not always be.

Will shook his head. "Why ask about the hunters if she's not going to stay and complain about them?"

Madison shrugged. _'She's been acting strange since they got here'_

"Probably because of dad," Jen had come over. "So, Mads, I hear from Kayla that Nico couldn't stop staring at you?"

Madison scoffed but her cheeks reddened. What on earth was she talking about? _'They always stare'_

Will was tense beside her. "They shouldn't. It's not like an affliction, you're normal,"

Jen rolled her eyes. "He probably can see she's normal, Kayla says he was staring at you before he found out you can't speak," she wiggled her eyebrows.

Will narrowed his eyes. "Jen, it's not going to be like what you're implying,"

Madison nodded in agreement. Jen shrugged and waved her hand flippantly.

"Ok fine then," she said. "But he's a cutie, so watch out someone doesn't pounce on him before you've had the chance,"

She then pounced and grabbed Madison's shoulders and shook her. Madison swatted her hands away and laughed. Jen ruffled her hair and then glanced at the sundial.

"It's nearly 6, Mellie, I am starving," she complained, "can we go to dinner yet?"

Melody looked up from her work and let out an exasperated breath. She was counsellor whilst Michael and Lee were away and she wasn't used to being consulted at every moment. She usually spent most of her time when she was in the cabin doing work on her own with the occasional frustrated sigh at the amount of noise. "Uh, just have a whip around the cabin first and tidy up before, thanks,"

She groaned, and pretended to faint on the floor. "I'm…so…hungry,"

Austin and Will looked at each other before grinning and picking her up by her arms and legs. She screamed and kicked and forced herself out of their hold until she was upright.

"You could have killed me!" she yelled dramatically. Everyone laughed, including Kat, who'd got changed and had braided her hair, and Johnny who had pushed the drum kit back against the wall.

"No but I will do in a minute, you kicked me in the face!"

"Serves you absolutely right!"

"Why do you always over-react?"

"I do not,"

"You do too. Doesn't she always over-react, Will?"

"Uh-"

"See!"

Melody appeared beside Madison shaking her head. "I cannot wait until Lee gets back,"

* * *

I am on a roll...I can't believe it. Shows how much you can do when you're trying to avoid work. Have you guessed who Madison's goddess mother is yet?

Please Review and I'll love you forever

ThatGirlWhoLicksWindows


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